A clip buckle comprises two buckle members releasably interlockable to fasten together. Such clip buckles are well known in the prior art and are buckles of the type having one buckle member with resilient arms received in a housing in the other buckle member, the housing having coupling apertures to receive coupling tabs provided on the resilient arms. The clip buckle can be simply engaged by pushing the resilient arms into the housing so that the tabs lockingly engage in the coupling apertures, and disengaged for opening by squeezing the coupling tabs together to disengage the tabs from the coupling apertures to thus permit the resilient arms to be pulled out of the housing. Such clip buckles enable the ends of straps or webbing to be rapidly fastened together and disengaged, but do not allow for adjustment of the spacing between the strap ends when fastened.
Typically, to enable such tightening or slackening adjustment to be made, one of the members of the clip buckle may be attached to its respective strap at an adjustable fastening. A typical prior art adjustable fastening involves the strap passing through first and seconds slots of an adjuster at the buckle member so that the strap doubles back over itself whereby friction of the strap against itself holds the strap in a tightened configuration. To slacken the strap, the adjustable fastening is positioned in a released configuration to allow the strap to slide through the two slots without being forced against itself.
A problem with such a tightening and slackening arrangement is that it is easy to overtighten the strap. Furthermore, once the strap is overtightened, release may be made difficult by the need to tighten the strap even further in order to bring the adjustable fastening into the released configuration. Where the buckle is used to fasten a strap around a fragile object, this may result in damage. Similarly, problems of bruising or choking may be caused if the buckle is to be used for attachment of a strap around a human or animal body part (such as, for instance, a dog collar or a wrist strap).
The strap, doubling back on itself, and the use of friction to hold the adjusted strap in place also mean that an excessive length of strap is generally present with some secondary fastener required to hold the free strap in place.
Tightening arrangements in the form of a toothed tongue combined with a ratchet are known in the prior art, for instance, as part of adjustment means for the tightening of ski-boots and the like. See, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,646,401. Application for animal collars is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,715,449 and WO2008/155791. However, such prior art arrangements are prone to accidental release from the animal whilst tightening or slackening.
Hence there is a need for adjustable buckle assemblies which address some or all of the problems of the prior art as set out above.
Leash structures, collars, harnesses and the like are available in various designs intended to control domesticated animals. A common arrangement is the use of a collar fastened around the neck of an animal, with the collar attached to a leash. The person controlling the animal grasps the proximal end of the leash and the distal end of the leash is attached to the collar.
With such a collar arrangement, it is desirable that the leash is easily attachable to the collar and can be removed, for instance, to allow the animal to roam freely. It is also desirable that the collar should be readily attachable around the animal's neck and removable therefrom, and also that the collar should be readily and rapidly adjustable to fit an animal's neck.
Domestic animals, such as dogs, may need to be brought under control rapidly depending upon the prevailing circumstances. In such a situation, to protect the safety of the dog or the safety of others, it may be necessary to rapidly attach a leash to a dog already wearing a collar, or it may be necessary to attach a collar to the dog rapidly, and to adjust it around the animal's neck, so that a leash can subsequently be attached to bring the dog under control.
As a domestic animal ages, for instances as a dog grows from a puppy into an adult, the size of the animals neck may increase requiring that the collar be adjusted in order to fit the animal securely, without causing choking, but without the collar being so loose that it is hazardous because of items becoming caught behind the collar. Hence it is desirable that a collar should be adjustable around an animal's neck.
Prior art collars, particularly dog collars, have used conventional buckle and strap arrangements, with a pin-buckle adjustable on a strap with poles through which the pin passes. Other known arrangements use, for instance, Velcro™ straps in order to provide adjustment of the collar. Another known arrangement uses a toothed belt and ratchet combination where the collar is fastened by inserting the distal end of a toothed belt into a slider having a ratchet, and the belt is tightened by pushing the toothed belt into the slider with the ratchet grasping the toothed belt.
The usual manner for attachment of a leash to a collar is the use of a D-ring fastened to the collar in combination with a clip at the distal end of the leash. To attach the leash to the collar, the clip is attached to the D-ring. Typical clips include spring clips such as Karabiner arrangements which have a sprung side arm, maillon type arrangements (also known as quick link) or shackles where the clip is openable by means of a screw arrangement or, for instance, slide clips where a section of the clip is slidably removable to allow a gap to be formed through which a D-ring can pass in order to engage with a clip. All of these arrangements require some degree of manipulation when engaging the clip with the D-ring on the collar. Typically, a collar is only provided with a single D-ring and the collar must be moved around the animal's neck in order to bring the D-ring into proximity with the person controlling the animal so that the leash can be attached.
Quick-connect coupling assemblies are known in the prior art and have been applied to use for attaching leashes to animal collars or for closing an animal collar around the animal's neck. Such arrangements are described, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,640,639 and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,820.
A number of problems are present in prior art arrangements for animal collars and leashes. The presence of an adjustment means for tightening or slackening the collar around the animal's neck may lead to a large proportion of the perimeter of the collar being unusable for position of a leash attachment means. Furthermore, the usual practice of only providing a single leash attachment means on a collar may lead to the person controlling an animal spending time shuffling the collar around the animals neck in order to find the leash attachment means prior to attaching a leash. This may be dangerous to the animal or to others when a leash needs to be attached rapidly. Furthermore, some animals may be prone to struggling against the attachment of a leash and so make it difficult for the person controlling the animal to manoeuvre the collar.
A further problem with the prior art is the need for manipulation when adjusting a collar to fit an animal's neck. Simple systems which clip around an animal's neck may then require manipulation in order to adjust the collar to the correct internal diameter. For arrangements such as a buckle and strap or a prior art toothed belt and ratchet, considerable manipulation is required in order to insert the strap into the buckle or the toothed belt into the slider arrangement prior to adjusting the system to match the animal's neck diameter. The animal may break free whilst a person is attempting to fasten then tighten a collar.
Hence, there is a need for a collar arrangement and for collar and leash assemblies which overcome some or all of the problems set out above.